Unusual criminal charge targets fraternity, not members

Lindsay Ellis, Brian Rogers
| on December 19, 2017

FOX 26 News reporter Damali Keith
Media: Fox 26 Houston

A national fraternity was indicted Thursday by a Harris County grand jury in what prosecutors said was a brutal hazing incident at the University of Houston that left one pledge with a lacerated spleen.

The charge against Tennessee-based Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity Inc. is the first for hazing to be filed in Harris County, officials said.

If convicted of the Class B misdemeanor, the fraternity could face a fine of up to $10,000.

The indictment says that in November 2016 one pledge was forced to roll in vomit, spit and feces and had to go without food, drink and sleep during a three-day ritual. He was forced to sleep in a small, contained area, and in one hazing ritual, he was tackled in the dark by fraternity members, which resulted in his hospitalization, according to the indictment.

Image 1 of 16

PHOTOS: Recent fraternity scandals that made headlines ...

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of Houston has been indicted on a criminal charge for alleged hazing of pledges.

See other recent

PHOTOS: Recent fraternity scandals that made headlines ...

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of Houston has been indicted on a criminal charge for alleged hazing of pledges.

See other recent scandals that rocked college campuses across the county ...

Photo: Nick Oxford/AP

Image 2 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

See more fraternity sorority scandals that caused controversy on college campuses.

Photo: Gary Coronado, Houston Chronicle

Image 3 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

The university announced in March 2015 that it had suspended both the fraternity and five of its members from campus for the alleged incident. The university had known about the allegations since January, but said it was unable to take action sooner because the Sigma Chi national chapter withheld information for "several weeks." (Full Story)

Photo: Alpha Phi

Image 4 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

The University of Alabama chapter of the Alpha Phi sorority faced criticism after their 2015 "rush week" video was released apparently showing an whitewashed sorority with no minority members, and playing up old stereotypes of sorority sisters. (Full Story)

Image 5 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

The fraternity made headlines for hosting an alleged "border patrol" party at its house within spitting distance of the university campus. Party goers attending the bash wore ponchos, sombreros and construction gear, while others wore military camouflage outfits. The party also featured cutout boards of people in traditional Mexican garb, a bar painted to look like a Mexican flag and a giant cutout of Patrón tequila, according to The Daily Texan. No sanctions against the fraternity were filed. (Full Story)

Image 8 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

Three young men pledging the Nu Alpha Phi fraternity were taken to a city park and ordered to do exercises wearing hooded sweatshirts and no gloves for "failing to perform their daily duties," according to Syracuse police.
After about 30 minutes, the pledges were given hand warmers and told to walk back to the frat house, according to police.
One of the pledges experienced extreme pain in his hands and sought treatment at a hospital. Doctors say he will be able to keep his fingers, but with plenty of physical therapy in his future. (Full Story)

Photo: Fechter, Joshua I, Courtesy Of Gawker

Image 9 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

In late February 2015, the institution confirmed police were investigating a possible sexual assault after a woman was found unconscious in an off-campus apartment. The news came only a few weeks after a 2014 Rolling Stone article about an alleged fraternity house gang rape. It put the school in the national spotlight. Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Virginia has denied any wrongdoing by its members. Rolling Stone later admitted discrepancies in its report. The university and the Department of Education reached an agreement over UVa's handling of the case in September 2015. (Full Story)

Photo: Middletown Police Department/AP

Image 11 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

Image 12 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

Brown University, Phi Kappa Psi accused of drugging two women

In late February 2015, the university reduced sanctions against the fraternity. The group was initially suspended for four years. But after a lab

Brown University, Phi Kappa Psi accused of drugging two women

In late February 2015, the university reduced sanctions against the fraternity. The group was initially suspended for four years. But after a lab test was found to be inconclusive, Brown officials reduced the suspension to two-and-a-half years. No individuals were charged with sexual misconduct.

Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

Image 13 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

Jordan Hankins and Richard Schwartz were charged with hazing and conspiracy to commit hazing. According to the criminal complaint, Schwartz gave the 19-year-old victim a bottle of liquor as part of an initiation ceremony. Hankins is accused of overseeing the event. Police were called to the house when the initiate was found unresponsive. He later died at the hospital. (Full Story)

Image 14 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

Yale University, Sigma Alpha Epsilon banned for sexual misconduct

A spokesman at the fraternity's national headquarters said its investigation found that two members made inappropriate comments about

Yale University, Sigma Alpha Epsilon banned for sexual misconduct

A spokesman at the fraternity's national headquarters said its investigation found that two members made inappropriate comments about a female student. He said the fraternity does not condone demeaning language and it ordered sexual assault and harassment prevention training for all members.

Image 15 of 16 | These fraternity scandals garnered quite a few headlines

The families of two victims in the 2011 incident have named the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity as defendants. Members of the frat were allegedly delivering beer kegs to a tailgate party in a U-Haul truck prior to a Yale-Harvard game when the driver lost control of the vehicle and accelerated into a crowd of people, killing one and injuring two more. (Full Story)

Prosecutors said the organization was charged, instead of individuals, because the people involved were complicit, indicating a pattern of bad behavior by the fraternity.

“Our goal is to change the culture of fraternities, not to get rid of fraternities, but we want them to stop engaging in hazing because it’s illegal,” prosecutor Amanda Petroff said. “There’s just zero tolerance for this. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, let alone killed.”

The national Pi Kappa Alpha organization said in a statement that it does not control any chapter, its members or their activities. If a chapter violates the fraternity’s standards, local laws or university rules, the fraternity can suspend a chapter’s charter. The national fraternity suspended the UH chapter’s charter in August 2017.

Brent Phillips, a national Pi Kappa Alpha spokesman, declined to discuss pending litigation Thursday. He said all fraternity members receive a statement on what is considered hazing and said that the fraternity does not tolerate hazing.

The fraternity suspended the chapter’s charter, he said, because it “failed to live up to the fraternity’s standards,” though he did not specify how.

Unusual indictment

This is the first time in Harris County that any person or entity has been indicted on hazing charges, Petroff said. Also unusual is that the fraternity itself is facing charges, not individual students.

The decision to charge a fraternity and not individual students is not unprecedented, said Doug Fierberg, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who specializes in lawsuits involving fraternity death, fraternity rape and hazing.

Prosecution most often arises after “outrageous circumstances that shock the conscious, most often when there’s been significant injury or death,” he said.

Still, Fierberg said, there has been a “cultural change” in how hazing is litigated in the last decade.

Before that, he said, seeing any charges after a hazing incident would be rare. If they existed, the charges would not be criminal, he said, and many hazing incidents at schools resulted only in internal judicial processes at the universities.

“Hazing is not being tolerated the same way,” he said. “At some point, if you want to make a dent in changing longstanding traditions of hazing, you have to hold fraternities themselves accountable for it. They have for decades failed to take appropriate steps to change their traditions and keep potential new recruits safe.”

UH grateful for action

UH said its police helped investigate the incidents, which occurred off campus.

In October, the university suspended Pi Kappa Alpha until 2023.

“We are grateful that our county partners have delivered a stern message through the grand jury’s decision against the fraternity, that such behavior, which jeopardizes the well being of our students, will not be tolerated,” UH said in a statement.

The University of Houston’s interfraternity council has 14 houses listed on its website, including Pi Kappa Alpha. About 1,265 students participated in UH Greek life in spring 2017, the most recent figures available.